


Summer

by orphan_account



Category: Bully: Scholarship Edition
Genre: M/M, Manhunt - Freeform, Manos: The Hands of Fate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-20
Updated: 2012-11-20
Packaged: 2017-11-19 03:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/568496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pete gets upset when he catches Jimmy kissing Trent, but after a day of playing hooky, he finds out where Jimmy's loyalty really lies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place about a week after the end of Bully, so there are a few minor spoilers. Also, I really did see Zoe kissing another guy during the sixth chapter XD

Peter Kowalski was about as happy as he ever got.  He wasn't usually too excited about going to the carnival-- it was only fun the first fifty or so times.  But even a whole evening had been fine with him, since he got to spend the entire time with Jimmy.

It had been weeks since he'd had his friend all to himself, and Pete was surprised when Jimmy had found him in the library earlier that day and suggested they go hang out.  But then, Jimmy had been a lot nicer to him in the past week; it seemed like he was finally starting to appreciate Pete.  So they had spent the past three hours throwing balls at things and hitting other things with mallets.

Now as they headed for the gates, Pete's arm was sore and he was almost broke, but he didn't care.  It had been worth it.

"By the way, I'm sorry about Zoe."  To be honest, Pete wasn't sorry in the least that Jimmy had caught Zoe kissing another guy in the industrial park.

"Eh, no big deal," Jimmy shrugged.  "She's cute, but the novelty sort of wore off."

"After a week?  I thought it was love," Pete couldn't keep from adding sarcastically.

Jimmy gave him a sideways look.  "You don't know much about girls, do you?  That's just what you say to them to impress them."

"Whatever."  Pete shoved his hands in his pockets as they walked towards the carnival exit.  He didn't want to talk about girls, especially not about Jimmy trying to impress them.

One of Russell's flunkies was leaning against the wall near the carnival gates, smoking.  When he saw them approaching, he put out his cigarette and grinned in their direction.

"Hey, Jimmy."

"What's up, Trent?"  Jimmy changed directions and walked over to the blonde boy, with Pete following unwillingly.

"I need to talk to you about somethin'," Trent said in what could only be described as a purr.  "You got a moment?"

Jimmy glanced at Pete.  "Yeah, okay.  Wait here, okay, Pete?"

"Sure."  Pete's good mood dissipated as he watched them walk over behind one of the tents.  He didn't like the way Trent had looked at Jimmy, or the tone of his voice.  Even though his conscience nagged at him for it, Pete sneaked after them.

He didn't even have to peek around the tent to know what was going on; Trent's moans were enough.  His heart felt clenched in his chest as he made himself look anyway.  Despite the rather exaggerated noises Trent was making, they were only kissing.  _Yeah,_ Pete thought bitterly, _Jimmy's "only" kissing another boy._   Even though he hadn't liked the idea of Jimmy making out with practically every girl on campus, Pete had accepted it.  But to know that Jimmy would kiss boys too. . . .  The only thing Pete could think was, _He never tried to kiss **me**._

He ducked back behind the tent as Jimmy pulled away from Trent.  "I have to go," he began.  "Pete's waiting on me--"

"So what?  I bet he doesn't kiss as good as I do!"

Pete didn't wait around to hear Jimmy's response.  He went back to the carnival gates, half intending to leave without Jimmy.  He wanted to; it was what Jimmy deserved for blowing him off to go make out with some blond dumbass.  And yet, he couldn't do it.  No matter what Jimmy did, Pete still wanted to spend every moment possible with him, even if it meant getting used and taken advantage of.

_You're pathetic, Kowalski,_ he told himself as he bit his lip and willed the carnival lights not to blur before his eyes.

\--

After he managed to get rid of Trent, Jimmy jogged over to the carnival gates, where Pete was waiting for him.  _Probably shouldn't have done that,_ Jimmy thought.  But while Jimmy got plenty of chances to kiss girls, he was starting to prefer kissing boys, and the opportunities for that were slim.  Might as well take advantage of the situation.

"Let's go," he muttered to Pete as he reached the gates.  The other boy didn't say anything or even look at him as they left the carnival.  It made Jimmy nervous-- but then if Pete had figured out what he and Trent were up to, he wouldn't have just waited around for Jimmy to get through, right?

Pete finally came back to life when he glanced at his watch and promptly started freaking out.  "Oh no, it's after eleven," he fretted.  "We're out past our curfew!  We've got to hurry. . . ."

"Nah, I'm too tired to head all the way back to the dorm tonight."  Jimmy yawned and started towards the beach.  "C'mon, we can crash at the beach house I won off the preps."

"But-- that's even worse!  Staying out all night?"

"No one will even notice we're gone."  Jimmy hopped the fence at the edge of the road and dropped down to the beach below.  "You think they actually care if we don't come home?"

Pete scrambled down from the embankment awkwardly and jogged across the sand to catch up.  "But we have class tomorrow morning."

Jimmy started to point out that no one would miss them if they skipped class either, especially since it was summer.  (He himself was in remedial chemistry, and God knew why Pete wanted to take honors English as a summer class.  He really _was_ a dork.)  However, Jimmy decided the idea of playing hooky might be too much for Pete to handle on top of missing curfew.  "I've got an alarm clock.  I'll set it early so we have time to get back to school before class."

Pete fell silent again as they walked up the boardwalk to the beach house and went inside.  Jimmy was pretty proud of the place, and he waited for Pete to make a big deal over how awesome it was-- but he didn't say a word.

Well, if anything would impress Pete, it would be video games.  "Hey, I've got my own Future Racer cabinet-- want to play?"

"No thanks.  I think I'll just go to bed."

Jimmy scowled.  How was that for gratitude?  "Fine," he grumbled.  "Have fun.  I'm going to stay up a while."  He slumped down at the video game cabinet and watched out of the corner of his eye as Pete lay down on the bed.  Jimmy played for a few minutes, but he was too tired to really focus on the game.  He gave up and decided to go to sleep instead.  Jimmy set the alarm clock for 8 am, then sat down on the edge of the bed, wondering if there was enough room for him and Pete both.

Apparently, Pete didn't think so.  Jimmy had thought he was asleep, but his eyes flew open and he sat up indignantly.

"I am _not_ sleeping in the same bed as you!"  Jesus Christ, what was the matter with the kid?

"It's _my_ place," Jimmy pointed out.  "I'm not sleeping on the floor."

"Then I will!"  Pete swung his legs off the bed and sat with his back to Jimmy, although he didn't actually get up.

"What's the big deal anyway, Pete?  I'm not gonna mess with you or anything."

Pete folded his arms.  "I don't know about that.  You seem to like messing with boys.  Especially Trent."

"So _that's_ what all this is about!  You were watching us, weren't you?" Jimmy growled.

Pete cringed but stood his ground.  "S-so?  He was making so much noise, I could have heard you two a mile away!"

"So what, now you have a problem with me because I kissed a guy?"

"N-no, it's not that."

"Oh yeah?"  Jimmy didn't know why he felt so defensive, and that made him even _more_ defensive.  "You didn't have a problem when you saw me kissing girls!"

"That's different!"  Pete's voice wavered slightly.  "I knew you were a player, but now you're doing it with boys too?"

"I'm not doing _it_ with anybody!  I just kissed him.  And I still don't see how it's different!"  When Pete didn't answer, Jimmy sighed.  He hated having to explain himself to anybody, especially someone as different from him as Pete.  But the last thing he needed was for Pete to go around telling everyone what he had seen-- although deep down, Jimmy knew Pete would never talk about him behind his back.  Really, he just didn't want Pete pissed at him.

"Look," Jimmy tried again.  "You know me, I just want people on my side.  And sometimes flirting is the best way to do it."

"Even with boys?"

Jimmy's patience was disappearing fast.  "For God's sake, what is your problem?  A few weeks ago he was sort of hitting on me, so I gave him some flowers.  I didn't want him getting pissed and turning Russell against me.  Trent's not my boyfriend or anything, but I want to keep on his good side.  And he's not a bad kisser either," Jimmy added vindictively.  If Pete were going to keep harping on it, then let's see how he liked that.

Pete was silent a minute, then he lay down again with his head cradled in his arm, his back still to Jimmy.  "Whatever.  It's your life."

"Damn straight."  When Pete didn't answer, Jimmy added more quietly, "So which one of us is sleeping on the floor?"

"Forget it," Pete mumbled.  "Just go to sleep."

Jimmy lay down next to him, fighting the urge to apologize.  After all, what did he have to apologize for-- for getting some action when Pete wasn't?  Yeah, maybe he should have waited until Pete wasn't around, but he hadn't kissed a guy in-- heck, it had to have been a couple of weeks now.  Even if Trent _was_ almost as dumb as Russell and as vain as a prep, he was still a great kisser.  And the way he got into it. . . even Lola hadn't moaned like that when Jimmy kissed her.  

Jimmy's memories of Trent's moans blurred into speculation on what Pete would sound like if Jimmy kissed him.  Would he moan too, or would he be all but silent like Gord?  What would he say if he knew his best friend was lying next to him, thinking about kissing him?


	2. Chapter 2

When Pete woke up the next morning, the first thing he noticed was the alarm clock, which read ten till eight.  The second thing he noticed was that Jimmy was sleeping with his pale, freckled arm flung across Pete's chest.  Pete blushed as he looked over at the other boy, who was sprawled on his back and snoring faintly.  As much as he dreaded skipping class for the first time in his life, Pete slipped a hand out from under the tattered blanket and switched the alarm off.

He grasped Jimmy's wrist to move his arm, which was surprisingly heavy, practically dead weight.  Instead of moving it, Pete found himself stroking the thin skin on the inside of Jimmy's wrist with his thumb.  He felt the other boy's slow pulse through the warm skin under his thumb, then after a moment slipped his hand into Jimmy's and laced their fingers together.  Jimmy's fingers twitched and half closed over Pete's.

_Probably the only time I'll ever get to hold his hand,_ Pete thought sadly.  He pulled his fingers away, noting with some satisfaction that Jimmy's fingers clutched convulsively around his, trying to hold on.

Pete finally moved Jimmy's arm and got up.  He wandered onto the dock outside the beach house and sat on the end, swinging his legs out over the ocean.  He had only been there a few minutes, surprised that he was actually enjoying skipping class, when Jimmy trudged up behind him, yawning.

"Hey, I thought you'd left.  You're gonna be late."

"I decided not to go to class today."

Jimmy sat down next to him.  "I'm proud of you, Pete, finally rebelling against the system."

"Just for today."

"You still mad at me?"  Jimmy leaned back on his hands and yawned again.

"No," Pete murmured, looking down at his hands resting on his lap.  "I'm sorry I got pissed at you."

"I had it coming to me, I guess."  He sighed and thumped Pete on the back.  "No more random kissing, cross my heart."

"It really wasn't any of my business," Pete said, although he couldn't keep from smiling.

"So whatcha want to do today?"  Jimmy got to his feet and leaned down with his hands on Pete's shoulders.  "I could teach you how to skate. . . or we could go vandalize something."

"Actually I'm kind of hungry," Pete commented before Jimmy suggested anything else criminal.

"I got a couple apples inside-- I found 'em a couple days ago, but they should still be good."  Jimmy hauled Pete up by the shoulders and led him back inside.  After they ate, Jimmy started rummaging through the pile of clothes in one corner of the room.

"I have an idea.  Let's go to the asylum and mess with the orderlies!"

" _What_?  Are you crazy?  That's got to be breaking so many laws--"

"Only if we get caught."  Jimmy pulled out a white uniform.  "I can disguise myself as one of them; they're too dumb to know the difference."

"Yeah, but what about me?"

"We'll get you a uniform too."  Jimmy wriggled out of his vest and shirt and started dressing in the uniform.  Pete blushed and looked the other way.

"But--"

"Look, they deserve it.  You wouldn't believe how bad they treat the patients."  Jimmy finished dressing and posed in front of him.  "What do you think?"

What Pete thought was that he looked pretty damn hot.  "Nice.  But won't anyone notice that you're a little young for an orderly?"

Jimmy shrugged.  "They never have before."

They made it to the asylum without anyone paying much attention, other than to laugh at Jimmy's outfit.  Jimmy let Pete around the asylum fence to where a tree grew at the back of the building.  Jimmy climbed it, swung out over the fence on a branch, and dropped onto the asylum grounds.

"Come on, your turn!"

"Jimmy, I don't know--"

"Don't be a dork.  Come on!"

Against his better judgment, Pete scrambled up the tree and over the fence.  Jimmy gave him a grin that made the whole adventure worthwhile.

"Wait here, I'll go get you a uniform."  As Pete crouched down behind a shrub, Jimmy sauntered up to the asylum entrance and went in.  Just as he had claimed, a couple passing orderlies didn't stop him, although they gave him a funny look.  After a few minutes, Jimmy returned with another uniform in hand.

"Here you go."

"But I can't change out here!" Pete protested.

"Sure you can.  No one's looking."

"You're looking!"

Jimmy sighed and dramatically turned his back on Pete.  "There.  Now hurry up."

Pete bit his lip and pulled off his vest and shirt, replacing them with the white uniform shirt.  With even more misgiving, he changed his pants as quickly as he could.  "There."

Jimmy turned around, looked him over, and whistled.  "Not bad.  You can leave your clothes by the tree, and we'll get them when we leave."

"I hope no one finds them," Pete fretted as he hid them as best he could in the bushes.

"They won't.  They're too lazy to even wander off the path."  Jimmy started for the front door of the asylum.  "Come on."

They walked into the asylum and right past a guard looking over the foyer; he didn't give them a second glance.  "Now what?" Pete asked as they slipped inside the A block.

"There's always this one orderly sleeping in front of the TV at the back of this block," Jimmy mused.  "Maybe we could screw with him."  He led the way deeper into the asylum, motioning for Pete to follow him.  "Just walk slow when we get in," he whispered as they reached the door before the orderlies' lounge, "and he probably won't wake up."

They crept into the lounge, and sure enough, an orderly was sprawled on a couch with his head thrown back, snoring loudly.  Jimmy smirked and slipped around the couch.  "What should we do?" he mouthed at Pete over the man's head.

Pete didn't really want to do anything-- he was terrified of being caught-- but he tried to think of something as he walked around the couch.  He looked thoughtfully at the lounge TV, tuned to a baseball game with the sound turned down.

"Maybe we could do something to the TV," he whispered.

"Hmm."  Jimmy looked around, then grinned.  "Petey, you're a genius."  He picked up the orderly's open can of Beam Cola sitting on the floor by the sofa, then turned off the TV and unplugged it.  "Come help me get the back off it."

Trying to ignore his conscience, Pete helped Jimmy pry the back panel off the TV, then Jimmy poured some of the soda inside the set.  He snapped the panel back on, and snickered as he replaced the soda can.  He gestured for Pete to follow him into the corridor leading to the B Block, slamming the door as they went.  They watched through the door's window as the sleeping orderly started awake at the noise.  The orderly looked around a minute, disoriented, then got up and trudged over to the TV.  Jimmy muffled a snicker with his hand as the man plugged the set back in.

"Watch this," he hissed to Pete.  Pete cringed as the orderly switched on the TV, producing a shower of sparks.  The orderly swore and danced around, slapping at the ruined television.  Jimmy chuckled and pulled out his camera to take a picture.  "That's one for my photo album."

Pete had to admit, it _was_ kind of funny-- and maybe it would teach the orderly to actually stay on guard rather than nap.  Jimmy grabbed his arm and tugged him towards B Block.  "Let's go see what else we can do."

After letting three patients out of their cells and mixing itching powder into the detergent in the laundry room, Jimmy decided they had done enough damage.  They slipped out of the asylum and back to where Pete had left his clothes.

"Just grab 'em; you can change after we get out," Jimmy suggested.

"But I can't wear this uniform out of here!  That would be stealing."

Jimmy rolled his eyes.  "Pete--"

"And I don't care if I'm a dork," Pete added stubbornly.

"But it looks so good on you."  Jimmy smacked him on the ass, then shrugged.  "Fine.  There's a tree over there you can climb out on-- I'll meet you outside the fence."  Blushing brightly, Pete ducked behind the building to change.


	3. Chapter 3

When Jimmy climbed out of the asylum fence, he fully intended to go wait for Pete behind the guard house.  However, remembering how shy Pete was about changing in front of him made Jimmy's curiosity get the better of him, and he peered through the fence instead.  What was Pete trying to hide anyway?

As far as Jimmy could tell, the only thing Pete had been hiding was a surprisingly nice body.  He watched as Pete pulled off the uniform's top.  He was facing away from Jimmy, who eyed the smooth, light brown skin of Pete's back with a faint blush.  Pete really _was_ pretty cute.

Pete put on his pink shirt and buttoned it up quickly, then took off the uniform pants.  Jimmy had just a moment to decide that Pete's legs were even cuter than his back, before the other boy pulled up his own slacks and started tucking in his shirt.  Jimmy decided he'd better get out of sight before Pete saw him; who knows what kind of fit Pete would pitch if he knew Jimmy had been spying on him.  
  
Jimmy had only been standing behind the guard house for a moment when Pete finally appeared over the top of the fence, edging his way out along a branch before dropping to the ground next to Jimmy.

"I'm _so_ glad we didn't get caught," he panted.  "We would have been in so much trouble. . . ."

"Unh hunh," Jimmy replied absently as they walked back towards town.  "So what do you want to do now?"

"Oh, it's my turn to choose?  Does it have to be something illegal?"

"I don't guess."

"Can we go see a movie?" Pete asked hopefully.  "The theater's showing an old horror movie I want to see."  It sounded pretty boring to Jimmy, but since Pete had been such a good sport about the asylum, Jimmy figured he owed it to him.

"Sure."  Jimmy glanced at him.  "You like horror movies?  I would've thought you'd get scared too easy."

Pete gave him an indignant glare.  "I'm scared of real things, like getting beat up and failing tests.  Not of zombies and serial killers."

"Serial killers _are_ real.  Didn't you hear about that one guy over in Carcer who escaped from jail and killed, like, every gang member in town, and all the police and--"

"Th-that can't be true," Pete protested, looking nervous nonetheless.  "One person can't kill that many--"

"But it was on the news!"

"Jimmy--"

"And he got away too.  You know, Carcer's not _that_ far away.  He could have--"

"Jimmy, _stop it_."

Jimmy sighed and tried not to chuckle at Pete's dismayed expression.  "Okay, okay.  I don't know what an escaped convict would do in Bullworth anyway.  Except maybe become a teacher."

" _Jimmy!_ "

By then they had reached the outskirts of the industrial park, and Jimmy stopped Pete at the corner of a warehouse.  "Hang on a minute.  It's too far to walk all the way to the theater; lemme grab a bike."

Pete blinked as Jimmy unlocked a side door and ducked into the warehouse.  "Do you just have stuff stashed all over town, or what?"

"Pretty much."  Jimmy produced a BMX from the warehouse and locked the door behind him.  "If you beat up enough people enough times, you end up with plenty of places to crash."  He straddled the bike and looked over his shoulder at Pete.  "Get on the seat behind me; I can stand up to pedal."

Pete looked doubtful, but he climbed on behind Jimmy and clutched the front of the seat.  Jimmy pushed off with one foot and stood on the pedals as they coasted down the street towards New Coventry.

"D-don't go so fast," Jimmy heard Pete stammer from behind him.   "I'll fall off!"

Jimmy rolled his eyes.  "Hang on to me," he ordered.  "If I go any slower, I'll tip over."  After a moment, he felt Pete's thin arms wrap around his waist.  Grinning to himself, Jimmy started pedaling with a vengeance.  Pete squawked and clung to Jimmy like his life depended on it as they sailed over the bridge to New Coventry.

New Coventry passed in a blur, followed by Bullworth Town.  Jimmy didn't even slow down until they came careening up to the theater in Old Bullworth Vale, and he didn't stop until they were right outside the box office.

"I-I'm gonna kill you," Pete said weakly as he slid off the bicycle.  "Although I guess I shouldn't waste my energy-- you'll do it yourself before long, riding like that."

Jimmy put his bike on the rack and grinned over his shoulder.  "That was nothing.  You should go racing with me some time."

"No thanks," Pete replied firmly.  As Pete got in line to buy their tickets, Jimmy noticed Pinky and Derby walking into the theater, tickets in hand.  Pinky smiled and gave him a little wave; Derby gave him a glare and a frown when he realized his girlfriend/cousin was flirting with another boy.  Jimmy grinned slowly as an idea occurred to him.

As soon as Pete had their tickets, Jimmy grabbed his arm and hauled him into the theater.  "What's going on?" Pete yelped.

"I gotta see which movie they go into," Jimmy said, hurrying to the hall that led to the individual theaters.  "Which one did you want to see?"

"Who?"  Pete stumbled after him.  "Uh. . . _Manos: Hands of Fate_."

"Great!  That's where they're going."  Jimmy sighed with relief and sauntered back towards the concession counter.

" _Who_?"

"Pinky and Derby.  You want anything to eat?"

Poor Pete was still trying to keep up.  "Why do you care what Pinky and Derby are going to see?"

"So I can mess with them, of course.  Do you want anything to eat or not?"

"Uh yeah, get me some popcorn."  Pete still looked pretty confused.  _Poor kid doesn't know how to have any fun_ , Jimmy thought as he bought an insanely overpriced carton of popcorn.

They took seats in the back of the theater before the lights went down, and Jimmy took the opportunity to locate Pinky and Derby several rows ahead of them.  Jimmy settled back in his seat and munched on popcorn until the movie began.  It looked absolutely terrible from the start, and he was glad he had better things to do than sit and watch.  When he was sure Pinky and Derby were occupied with the movie, he stood up.

"Where are you going?" Pete hissed.

"You'll see."  Jimmy slipped out into the aisle and walked towards the front of the theater.  He crept into the row behind Pinky and Derby and crouched down, duck-walking until he was directly behind the oblivious couple.  Smirking to himself, Jimmy slid his hand in between their seats.  At first he had planned to feel Pinky up pretending to be Derby; if he knew Pinky as well as he thought he did, Derby would get a slap in the face for it.  At the last minute, though, Jimmy changed his mind.  It would be even better if Derby really _earned_ that slap, so Jimmy gave _his_ thigh a squeeze instead before quickly drawing his hand back.

There was no response, and Jimmy frowned to himself.  He pushed his hand between the seats again and gave Derby's thigh a firm grope.  This time as Jimmy pulled his hand back, he saw Derby turn and look at his date.  Jimmy couldn't see Derby's hands, but they were obviously busy, for an instant later Pinky squealed, hauled back, and gave her cousin the most forceful slap Jimmy had ever seen.

" _Ow_!  What was _that_ for?" Derby yelped, putting a hand to his stung cheek.

"You _pervert_!"  Pinky stood up, folding her arms across her chest.  "What kind of girl do you think I am, one of those trashy greaser chicks?"

"But-- but you-- you did it to me first!"

"I _what_?  You really _do_ think I'm trashy, don't you?"  Pinky burst into tears, turned away, and stumbled out to the aisle.

"Pinky, wait. . . ."  Derby got up and followed her, leaving Jimmy crouched in the next row and snickering.

_Way too easy_ , he thought.  When the coast was clear, he returned to his seat.  Pete glanced at him as he sat down.

"Why do I have a feeling that commotion was your fault?"

"It wasn't illegal, so you don't have anything to worry about," Jimmy assured him.  "There any popcorn left?"  Pete handed him the tub of popcorn and turned back to the movie.  The film wasn't any less terrible now than it had been at the beginning, and Jimmy ended up watching Pete a lot more than he watched the movie.  Why did Pete have to be so cute, anyway?  It was hard enough being attracted to boys in a place like Bullworth; having a thing for your best friend made it even worse.

_I don't have a "thing" for him_ , Jimmy thought sullenly, looking away from Pete's profile and into the depths of the popcorn tub.  There was no way Pete could be like that, anyway-- even if he _did_ wear pink a lot.  And make jokes about Jimmy growing up to be a male stripper.  And get jealous when Jimmy kissed other boys. . . .

Okay, maybe Pete _could_ be like that.

Jimmy cast a sideways look at his friend, who was still somehow engrossed in the terrible movie.  Jimmy's plans for the day took on a new dimension.  He was still interested in harassing other couples, but maybe he could do a little experimenting on Pete at the same time.

Jimmy leaned back in his seat and smirked to himself.  He might just find out if Pete moaned when he was kissed after all.


	4. Chapter 4

As they left the theater after the movie ended, Pete paused and looked up at the sky.  The sun was beginning to set, leaving the horizon streaked with color.

"What should we do tonight?" Jimmy asked as he stopped next to Pete.  The sunset turned Jimmy's skin a golden orange shade and sparkled in his hazel eyes.

"I don't know."  Pete shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at his feet.  "Maybe I should get back to campus."

"Why?  Tomorrow's Saturday."

"Yeah, but I have an English test Monday, and--"

"And you can study for it tomorrow and Sunday.  Like you even need to study anyway."  Jimmy moved in front of Pete, blocking his view of the sunset.  "Let's do something fun tonight."

"Like what?"

Jimmy broke into a grin.  "Let's see if we can crash some more dates.  I bet _all_ the preps are out tonight, trying to get with their cousins."

Pete frowned; it wasn't exactly his idea of a good time.  "I don't know--"

"It'll be fun, trust me."  He grabbed Pete's arm and tugged him towards the boxing club where the preps hung out.  "Let's go see who we can round up."

Pete followed him reluctantly.  He had never been in the boxing club before, and he didn't want to make his first visit just then-- or ever, to be honest.  Still, it was either that or go back to the dorm alone.

When they entered the club, Bif and Chad were in the boxing ring, working out their aggression the civilized way, Pete supposed.  Derby and a rather sullen Pinky were standing nearby watching.  Apparently Pinky had been placated, but just barely.

A couple of the preps greeted Jimmy as he sauntered in as if he owned the place, Pete slinking in his wake.  It wasn't exactly the best place to crash dates, Pete thought, considering that Pinky was the only girl there.  Jimmy seemed to be enjoying himself though.  He hovered at the edge of the ring, yelling insults at both the combatants indiscriminately.

One of the preps, a dark-haired boy with large eyes and what appeared to be a perpetual smirk on his face, edged over to Pete and looked him up and down.  "I've never seen _you_ around here before."

"I-I came with Jimmy," Pete stammered.

"Ah yes, Hopkins."  The boy glanced at Jimmy appreciatively.  "Are you his latest. . . conquest?"

Pete felt his cheeks grow hot.  " _No_!  I'm his friend."  Just how many guys was Jimmy making it with anyway?

"Oh.  That's good to hear."  The prep turned away from Jimmy and back to Pete, holding out his hand.  "I'm Gord, by the way.  I've seen you around in the library."

"Pete."  He shook the proffered hand, then shoved his own into his pockets.  "So uh. . . what's there to do around here?"

"You mean besides watch the. . . action?"  Gord gestured towards Bif, who had stripped off his shirt.  Pete could have sworn he heard the other boy purr during the pause in his words.  "Well, we could always go upstairs."

"Wh-what's upstairs?"

"The bar," Gord smirked.  "And the changing room."

This time, all the blood drained from Pete's face and he took a little step back, hugging the wall.  "I. . . think I'll just stay here.  Jimmy might want to leave soon."

Gord chuckled and looked at the ring; Chad had won the fight and was yelling a challenge down at Jimmy.  "Oh, I doubt that."

Sure enough, an instant later Jimmy came barreling through the sparse crowd and grabbed Pete's shoulder.  "C'mon."  Pete had just enough time to catch the knowing look on Gord's face before Jimmy dragged him towards the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Pete panted as he pelted up the stairs after Jimmy.

"I've gotta get changed-- I'm up next."

Pete got a brief glimpse of the bar as they passed through.  "Up next for what?"

"To box, you dork.  Chad's last in line since Derby isn't up tonight, so I'm gonna take him on and--"

"What?  You-- you can't!"  Pete stopped in the doorway of the changing room; Jimmy was already inside pulling off his street clothes and rummaging around for a pair of gloves.

"'Course I can.  Hell, I can out-box Derby himself.  Chad's a pushover."

"But you said you were just going to crash some dates, not get in a _fight_."

Jimmy rolled his eyes.  "It's not a _fight_ , just a match."

"But you could get hurt!"

"What kinda wimp do you think I am?  _You'd_ get hurt out there, but I won't."

"So now I'm a wimp _and_ a dork?"  Pete was hurt, as always, by Jimmy's criticism, but this time he was angry too.  "Just because my idea of a good time isn't breaking and entering and ruining other people's evenings and beating them up?"

"Hey, no one said you had to come with me!"  Jimmy's voice rose to a near yell; he looked pretty mad himself.  "I can't do anything right with you.  Guess you're too good to have fun with me, is that it?  Boxing might be a high-class sport, but that's _still_ not good enough for the great Peter Kowalski!  Hell, I can't even _kiss_ the right people.  Let me guess, it's trashy to kiss other boys?  It makes me a jerk?"

"You're a jerk anyway," Pete spat.  "Being promiscuous is just the icing on the cake!"  Jimmy just glared at him.  _Probably trying to figure out what promiscuous means,_ Pete thought dismally.  "If you wanted me to have fun with you, you might try not blowing me off for someone else, for once!  Maybe Trent's right, maybe I _couldn't_ kiss as good as he can, but you wouldn't know-- you never even tried!"

Jimmy's cheeks flushed as red as his boxing gloves.  Pete wasn't sure if he were blushing or just really _really_ pissed.  Since Jimmy _was_ wearing boxing gloves, Pete decided he'd better not hang around to find out.

He bolted out of the room, through the bar, and down the stairs.  He was half aware of Gord looking up questioningly as he passed, but Pete was in no mood to deal with any more of Jimmy Hopkins' "conquests."  As he made his way to the bus stop, he felt the urge to either punch something as hard as he could, or cry.

"Damn him anyway," he muttered under his breath.  "Let him kiss all the boys he wants, but just wait until the next time he needs a _real_ friend."  What was worrisome was the thought that that time might never come.

Luckily the bus _did_ come a moment later, and within five minutes Pete was back inside the gates of Bullworth Academy.  He trudged towards the boys' dorm disconsolately.  _He'll probably never speak to me again,_ Pete thought.  _If I didn't piss him off, I probably grossed him out.  Like he'd ever want to kiss **me**._

"Hey!"  Pete was almost to the steps of the boys' dorm when he heard the call.  He glanced up to see Trent walking towards him from where he had been spray painting the side of the building.  Pete glanced around, but no one else was in sight.  Trent really _was_ talking to him.

"What do you want?" Pete snapped.

"I'm lookin' for Jimmy," Trent replied, running a hand through his short blonde hair.  "He around?"

Pete started to tell him where Jimmy was, then something inside him made him stop.  "Why do _you_ want to know?"

Trent looked slightly taken aback, but he chuckled.  "It's private, kid.  So where is he?"

"You think he likes you, don't you?" Pete growled, knowing intellectually that he was likely making the biggest mistake of his life. . . and not caring.  "Well, he doesn't.  He kisses _everybody_."

Trent shrugged.  "I don't care if he _likes_ me or not."  He looked Pete over and smirked.  "And he doesn't kiss _everybody_.  I bet he's never kissed _you_."

That did it.  Whatever had made Pete stop and talk to Trent snapped, and he flew at the larger boy in a fury.  He caught Trent off-guard and managed to connect his fist to his jaw, as well as kick him in the shin, before Trent could draw back.

"Ow, _shit_ ," Trent griped, rubbing at his jaw.  "You little bastard, what was that for?"  Then he grinned.  "You got a thing for him, don't you?"

Pete leapt for him again, but this time Trent was prepared.  He dodged Pete's blow and grabbed the smaller boy by the collar, holding him up against the railing on the dorm steps.  Pete could only cringe helplessly as Trent hauled back and punched him in the face.  Pete saw stars in his left eye as pain flared up around it.  Trent pulled his fist back again for another blow-- then Jimmy appeared from nowhere, still in his boxing clothes, and rammed into Trent's right side, knocking him away from Pete.

"Leave him alone!" Jimmy snarled at Trent.  Trent was as surprised to see him as Pete was; he only stared as Jimmy kneed him in the groin, then Trent collapsed with a groan.  "If you _ever_ touch him again, I'll have Russell all over your ass-- and not in the way you want, either!"  Trent just whimpered incoherently.

"You okay?" Jimmy asked Pete softly.  Pete involuntarily touched his now swollen eye even as he nodded.  "Come on."  Jimmy grasped his arm and led him inside.

"Go sit on my bed," Jimmy ordered.  "We need to put something on that eye."  Pete waited in Jimmy's room until he returned with a cold can of soda.  "There's nowhere to get ice so this'll have to do."  He rummaged around for a clean shirt, then wrapped the soda can in it and held it against Pete's eye.  Pete winced as the coldness made the pain in his face flare, then it slowly began to numb.

"Now.  What the _fuck_ were you doing?" Jimmy asked as he sat down next to Pete, still holding the can to his eye.  "Did he jump you?"

"N-no."  Pete would almost rather be out there taking his chances with Trent than explaining it.  "I. . . I jumped him."

"The _hell_ you did.  _Why_?"

"He was trying to find out where you were, and-- oh, it doesn't matter.  I was being stupid.  A dork.  Just like always."  He tried to pull back, but Jimmy put his free hand on the back of his neck, holding him against the cold compress.

"Why did he want to know where I was?"

"He said it was 'private.'"  Pete's lip curled involuntarily.

"And?"

"And. . . and I told him you didn't like him, and he said he didn't care.  And--"  Pete's voice fell to a whisper.  "And that he bet you'd never kissed me.  And then I hit him."

"Over that?  Petey, you gotta quit letting guys like him get to you."

Pete cast him a sardonic look with his uncovered eye.  " _You_ would have hit him."

"Well, yeah, but I can handle myself in a fight.  You can't.  Not," he added quickly when Pete started to speak, "because you're a dork or a wimp.  Which you are, at least sometimes.  But because not everybody solves problems the same way.  I solve mine by beating people up and playing pranks on them.  You solve yours by outsmarting them.  That's why we're so good together; we do things different ways."

"But Trent's not a problem for _you_ ," Pete grumbled.

"He is now.  It was stupid of you to hit him, but it was stupider of him to hit you back.  He should know better than to hurt my best friend.  He knows I'll kick his ass, no matter how many times we made out.  And last night was the _last_ time, believe me."

"Really?"  When Jimmy nodded, Pete asked with the faintest of smirks, "What about Gord?"

"Gord?  Oh, the prep."  Jimmy made a face.  "I should have known he wouldn't keep his big mouth shut.  Yeah, I'm through with him too.  In fact, I'm thinking of setting him up with someone.  He seems to like greasers, and maybe a guy would be less trouble for him than Lola was."  He lifted the can away from Pete's eye and examined it.  "There.  It shouldn't bruise too bad."

"Thanks."  Pete looked down as Jimmy withdrew his hand from the back of his neck and used it to pop open the soda.  "And I'm sorry."

"It's okay.  I've wanted to punch Trent myself a few times."

"No, I meant about back at the boxing club.  I know you can take care of yourself, but I'm still afraid you'll get hurt.  And. . . well I wanted you to hang out with me, not the preps."

Jimmy took a long swig of soda.  "I wanted to hang out with you too, but Chad started calling me a pussy, and. . . well, I guess it was like with you and Trent."  He chuckled, earning a wan smile from Pete.

"But how'd you get back here so fast?  Did you box Chad?"

This time Jimmy was the one to glance down.  "Nah.  I was going to, but then I decided to follow you instead.  You were getting on the bus when I got outside, so I followed you on a bike.  That's why I was a little late."

"Oh."  Pete felt his smile grow a little.  "So you _did_ want to hang out with me."

"Yeah.  And then you go and get yourself punched in the face when I leave you alone for five minutes.  Nice."

"I hope you're right about the bruising," Pete muttered.  "It's going to be embarrassing."

"Let me look again."  Jimmy set down his soda and took Pete's face in his hands, turning it towards the light.  "Yeah, it should be fine."  He lightly brushed Pete's cheek with his thumb, making him flush again.  "You know what?"

"Wh-what?"

"You're cute when you blush."

Pete blushed all the more.  "I-is that one of the lines you used on Trent?"

"Nope.  I use cornier ones on most of the boys, and the girls for that matter.  Like 'I love your lip gloss,' and 'You look really good in this light.'  And usually," he went on, stroking Pete's other cheek slowly, "I don't mean them anyway.  I meant it this time."

"L-look, you don't have to do this," Pete stammered.  "M-maybe I was a little jealous of Trent, but it was just because you're supposed to be _my_ best friend and you were spending time with _him_.  It doesn't mean that I want to. . . to kiss you."

"Unh hunh.  Petey, shut up."  Jimmy put a thumb over Pete's lips and held it there until he leaned close enough to replace it with his own mouth.  He kissed Pete lightly twice, then sat back a little.

"Now you can win the bet next time anyone says I've never kissed you."

"Y-yeah."  Pete leaned forward without even meaning to and pressed his mouth to Jimmy's again.  He felt Jimmy's lips curve into a smile under his, then part as Jimmy thrust his tongue against Pete's mouth.

_Oh God,_ thought Pete as he hesitantly parted his lips.  _I'm going to be terrible at this--_   Then he promptly forgot all about worrying when Jimmy's tongue darted into his mouth.

\--

The investigation had been successful, Jimmy thought as he wrapped his arms around his best friend.  Pete most certainly did moan when he was kissed.

However, one thing he had learned from Watts's remedial chemistry class was that experiments only held up if their results could be duplicated.  This was one experiment that would definitely bear repeating throughout the summer. . . and beyond.

\--

The End


End file.
